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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Ulu temburong Canopy Walk, Brunei

Ulu temburong

As stated by lonely planet and other guides, It really is not advisable to enter ulu temburong independently. But hey presto! according to the lonely planet website- here

Tour companies in BSB offer a variety of packages. The standard rate is around B$245 per person for a two-day trip to the park, including an overnight stay at a Murut village on the way up the Sungai Temburong. There’s plenty of scope for group rates and other discounts, though it’s cheaper by far to get the boat to Bangar and either book at the tourist office (B$85) or hang around and try to negotiate a ride-along with an existing group.

It turns out that this is the current situation here. (from my personal observations)

there are 4 operators.

only Ulu-ulu has a resort within the park.

Those located outside the park are Freme, Sunshine, Trandie Marina

Trandie is the oldest, running the tour for 12 years

-they have an obstacle course for the adventurous individual/ teambuilding exercise

The others are quite new, but they all have additions such as the rapid rider service ($15)

The boat ride up from BSB is still $6. The Water Taxi takes around 45minutes to arrive at the new jetty in Bangar. You can find the Jetty easily. Its a 5 minute walk from the local bus terminal.. just walk towards the big body of water and turn left.. just after a row of kedai makan, you'll arrive at the jetty. There are 2 companies running the water taxi, however the price is the same. the red taxis arrive slower, I heard. but the difference isn't that much ~5-10 minutes

Once you get to Bangar,-the new bangar jetty

the tourist office is located just across the road.. in a non-descript building. Flanking the office, is the youth centre. (you can stay @ the youth centre by informing them before hand)

Your choices at this point is-

1) enquire at the Tourist office (they have pretty weird opening hours.. on some days they open at 10 and close at 2?!!)

2)Wait for other tourists groups to arrive and see whether you can tag along. But its quite a gamble. You need to pre-book your stay in the park, and from my experience, the price is the same- ie you won't be able to get the group rate by virtue of "joining" the group.

3)You can push your luck even further, though that will inadvertently making it even harder to turn back, by hitchhiking/ finding a taxi to send you to Batang duri (around ten minute's drive)

If you're all for adventure, I think the distance is fairly walkable. you can visit one of the few remaining longhouses- AMO longhouse- along the way. I estimate walking will take 30 minutes. Once you're there, you may book your stay/ day trip with Freme/ Trandie Marina Resorts.

4) Other options to get into ulu temburong is via the Outward Bounds Brunei (below is the yet to be completed OBB building)

or via The Universiti of Brunei Darusalam, Biology Department... and book your stay at the Kuala Belalong Field Research Centre. You need to contact Dr Zora, The lecturer in Charge.

It will be possible if there is a concurrent research group going though, they won't be able to cater to an individual going there. the research centre is located 1km upriver away from the park HQ..

do discuss with the tour operator and see whether they can include all of that into a cheaper package.

As my main aim to be here is for the Sunrise canopy tour: here's some additional info:

Sunrise tours to the canopy is better done by the Ulu-ulu resort as they are located nearer.

you should get up at 5 am and should be able to get to the canopy within 30 minutes.

For Trandie, you need a minimum of 4 pax before they consider taking you on the sunrise tour.

Its actually quite a hassle for the Tour operators who need to pay their own workers overtime (they usually start work at 730am)

Thus if they wanna cater for guests at 4, their workers need to arrive by 3! and the forestry officials need to be notified 1 day beforehand

regarding the need to sign guests in at ungodly hours.

These inconveniences will be translated into costs which will be transferred to the consumer.

That said, It is still recommended that you take a sunrise tour should there be one.

The magnificient sight of mist covered can only be seen that way.

The Animals rise with the sun. Especially gibbons and I gather that you can hear their calls crescendo and reverberating throughout the forest when they rise and shine.

Hornbills, if they do fly in front of you,will do it early in the morning as well!- from what I heard.

however, the climb to the canopy isn't that tiring, if you make it the first event of your day,

instead of some ppl opting for the waterfall first. "Sheesh!"

In my case, I had to tag along with another group, and they went for the Sg Apan waterfall. After that, my legs became wobbly due to the uneven trek to the waterfall had my legs contorting into different positions, straining rather untrained muscle groups.- photos along the way to the waterfall:

Unique rock patterns

The canopy walk is extremely safe, I did not experience any sway with the wind, maybe because there was no wind at 11am!!

the way up to the canopy walk

Tension cables holding the tower in placeNote one single unit of the aluminium tower is about 2m in height

multiply that unit by 20-30

do climb up the observatory instead of going up and down the aluminium towers straight without once looking down, like some did! It defeats the purpose if you make the event a who gets down the fastest sorta test

It's a looooong way downDo you have fear of heights?bring a pair of binoculars..

but if your cam lens has a zoom function of at least 400mm equivalent, you'd do just fine.

(as I was on the tower @11am.. there were no misty sights, no hornbills, no gibbons, just swiftlets, bees and the occasional fly..lol)

pack at least 1 litre of water, you'll need it.

You won't get to see mount kinabalu though! Despite the sign.

Now the boat ride into the National park is really something to be savoured.

you get 3 different types of experiences

Riding in the cool wind, with water splashing onto your face now and then,

riding into some turbulent waters... giving you lil pumps of adrenaline

You'll see different species of riverine plants... some stretching up to 50 metres into the air...

you'll feel that you're in a canyon sometimes, boxed in by the two riverbanks that climb straight up into the air.

The air is fresh, you'll want to remind yourself to take in a few extra breaths!

If you're really lucky, gibbon/monkey troupes would swing past and hornbills will fly over head.

Its pretty safe to carry a DSLR on this boat trip, just make sure that you point it downwards and use the person sitting in front of you on the longbaoat as a shieldm Like I did!

You do not need a stabilizer in the form of a tripod/ monopod on the canopy, so save yourself the trouble of lugging it in, @$#$@&%&*. Yeah I did just that.

wear sleeveless clothing if you're not too fond of your own bong, and lather on some sunblock unless you wanna have JAX like arms like me () ()

Get a pair of amphibious shoes like this pair of ZABA northface trainers- sans socks.

Alternatively, your tour operator will provide you with a pair of Jungle adidas- One piece Rubber shoes that have magnificent grip although not something you'll want to appear with in KLCC.

Rapid Rivers should be fun!

The river currents aren't that turbulent that they will throw you off. and the water isn't that deep at all. Still, should the conditions be less than ideal, the operators shall withdraw the event, and money back guaranteed.

Mosquito repellants aren't that high on my list- I don't think they really work anyways.

DON't forget to SWIM in the river! you must. once the equilibrium between your bodyweight and the downstream current is achieved, you'll find yourself slowly drifting underneath the canopy,looking at the underside of gigantic leaves.. an extremely soothing sight.

Fishing can only be done by locals, so don't think about it.

Here's a map for you!

stay the night at Batang duri/ Go straight it for a night at the cabins of ULU=ULU.

I heard that there are cabins in the park, but since the tourist office has since moved from the general post office, I couldn't find it, and couldn't book a night there.

Maybe you can save more by informing the tour operators that you wish to camp instead of chalets, you'll be bringing your own meals etc.I chose to camp instead of staying in the chalets It depends whether you've tasted local food. Trandie's fod is yum yum!!

18 comments:

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PART 1

THE U.S. CITIZENS HAVE THEIR BRAINS SCRAMBLED VIA FLUORIDE IN THE WATER & ALL THE ASPERTAME THEY CONSUME IN POP DRINKS, BUT THERE IS MORE.....

You see, Bush Sr., & Jr., Clinton, Reagan, Carter, Obama, Ford...ALL these presidents are in what is dubbed a SECRET SOCIETY called The Moloch Axis Demoniacs (i coined the phrase myself...Dr. A.P. and i don't use my full name because WHO knows WHAT sinister crap they'd do to me IF they found out?) or M.A.D. for short.

These people, and there’s obviously more of them (Cheney, Rumsfeld etc.) than the ones mentioned, control KEY positions not just in government, business, finance, society etc. They not only perpetuate what will keep them in power today, but take steps to GRADUALLY erode MORAL, SOCIAL and FAMILY VALUES in society. This degradation is so gradual that it's like hair loss! You see it ever so slowly and you have to be a keen eye to boot!

For example, women in the workforce...they go to work so WHO takes care of the kids? Some goofs getting minimum wage who could care less about those kids. Family split apart because NOW both parents work and the cost of life itself purposely increased to perpetuate this separation. Kids grow up with NO moral/social/family values. Repeat this a few generations and before you know it, you have mindless zombies that don't know RIGHT from WRONG! The masses will be easily programmable to get in debt, and be anti-Christ-like etc. Add ASPERTAME, Fluoride in tap water, MSG and genetically modified foodstuffs to the mix and the process expands both rapidly & exponentially.

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I can go on for days & days as to the subtleties and more examples but i think you all SEE the points i make here. It's all SUBTLE and GRADUAL negative changes day in & day out that these M.A.D. demons (because they are demonic and have placed their trust in demons in exchange for their souls and material possessions here on earth) are passing into laws in Canada, USA, UK, SPAIN, FRANCE etc.

PART 2They are genetically modifying the food so that the REAL NORMAL SEEDS will eventually be extinct and the modified canola, corn, soy and cotton seeds will be the ONLY ones left. Genetically modified means that these NEW seeds that are in almost ALL USA store bought products have the herbicide, fungicide, pesticide and who knows what other toxins already in the seed. THEREFORE, when you eat that mishmash, WHO THE HELL KNOWS WHAT IT WILL DO TO YOUR INTESTINES OR HEALTH OVER TIME! And of course, the industry (i.e. Monsanto just to mention one) TELLS US.."Ohhh..it's ALL safe to eat jajajaja". SAFE TO EAT? Just look at the bees landing on these genetically modified crops and their stomachs are being ripped apart & THEY DIE! Yet you SEE HOW funny it is on TV/MEDIA that NOBODY, including the M.A.D. payed-off demonic scientists don't even whisper/mention the OBVIOUS that i just stated here?

Like i said, i can go on and on for days giving you more & more & more examples of the gradual demonic END GAME these M.A.D. are playing with us. But like i said, i think you all reading this get the picture. And by the way, i am a Dr. and guess what? I DO NOT WORK FOR THE M.A.D. OR HAVE SOLD MY SOUL TO A DEMON! But....i live in virtual poverty somewhere on this planet with a family to feed and barely scrape by. And IF you think that sounds bad, well, this AIN'T nothing compared to what the M.A.D. have in store for ALL of us in the aforementioned countries (and more) i listed. And again, ALL their moves are subtle and gradual like a chess game being played out with the regular folks as the pawns.

I sometimes WONDER WHY the regular folks in these countries NEVER do ANYTHING TO STOP these demonic morons? It doesn't matter IF you vote Republican or Democrat because from those 2 choices, they are BOTH a part of M.A.D. Same with Canada and their Liberal or Conservatives...same M.A.D. , and on and on and on. I sometimes wonder.....you NEVER see ANY of these M.A.D. criminals go to trial or imprisoned for fraud on the people yet IF little billy J-Walks across a busy street he gets a ticket he must pay! When will Bush Jr. & Cheney and ALL those involved in blowing up 3 buildings in Manhattan and blaming it on Arabs EVER be brought to justice? NEVER because when it FINALLY is discovered what they did, they'll be safely dead from old age and the vast majority of the people in the USA will be so brainwashed with NO moral/social/family values they will have already taken up the 666 mark and be worshipping the anti-Christ.

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